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Erika Guay


Associate Professor of Theatre
Coordinator of Theatre Minor
Coordinator of Theatrical Production & Technology Certificate

Professor Erika Guay hails from Virginia, holds a B.A. from Gettysburg College and a M.F.A. from University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is a member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), Kennedy Center American College Theatre Association (KCACTF), Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Psi Omega. She has specialties in design and building puppets, mask making and Asian theatre. Her current research focuses on ecoscenography and sustainability in theatre design. 

Erika is regularly the faculty mentor for student designers. She also provides mentorship for design, technology and management students for presentations at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and other conference opportunities. 

Erika’s love of puppets began while studying bunraku with the Tonda Ningyo Troupe in Biwa-cho, Japan. From this experience she performed with the Bunraku Bay Puppet Company at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has designed and built puppets for many productions including an award winning puppet for the Opera Barnum’s Bird, many innovate animal puppets for the children’s tour show, Wiley and the Hairy Man, and bunraku inspired puppets for the SUNY Plattsburgh premier of The Bamboo Princess.

Erika is a committed community member of the North Country. She has worked on productions for the North Country Ballet Ensemble, Adirondack Ballet Company, Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, The Depot Theatre in Westport, and at The Strand Theatre in downtown Plattsburgh. Erika helps her husband with his maple syrup operation, raises and sells lamb locally, entertains her students with tales of chickens and gardening, while also raising her two kids.

  • Education
    • M.F.A. in Theatre Design, University of North Carolina Greensboro
    • B.A. in Theatre, Minor in Japanese, Gettysburg College
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